


Christmas Will Be Soon

by logsted



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), NewscapePro SCP Minecraft Roleplay, SCP Foundation, newscapepro - Fandom
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21699988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/logsted/pseuds/logsted
Summary: Cory's favourite holiday was Christmas. Everyone assumed it was because of the presents.
Relationships: Uni & Cory, Uni/Cory, you can view it as romantic or platonic! either way works
Comments: 18
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ya boi is back with another christmas fic!!  
anyways!! this fic was based off of some headcanons that me and my friend goopsy came up with!!! the fic takes place sometime near early season two, since thats what season i was on when i started writing it!!!  
i hope you enjoy!!! :D

It surprised absolutely  _ nobody  _ that Cory’s favourite holiday was Christmas.

Some had voted that Halloween would be his favourite, but other than that, everyone knew that Christmas would be his favourite holiday of the year. And that became apparent right on the 1st of November.

Just the day after Halloween, he strutted into the briefing room for the scheduled meeting, wearing a Santa's hat and a VERY ugly Christmas sweater-- And by that I mean VERY ugly, with flashing christmas lights, glittery pom-poms, and woolen illustrations of reindeer and gingerbread man and presents under Christmas trees. He had walked in with this full Christmas attire and matching music in the background, and yet.. Still eating his Halloween candy from the day before.

That was just the start of a  _ very _ tiring and much-too-merry two months.

Every day, Cory wore a new sweater. Partly because of the absurd amount of Christmas sweaters he owned, and partly because each sweater was confiscated each day. That clearly didn’t stop Cory, though, as each day the last stolen sweater was replaced with a completely new one.

His jolly shenanigans weren’t contained to itchy, warm clothing, though. Tinsel sprinkled the hallways, wreaths on every door, christmas lights upon the walls of every wall. Cory had spent every hour of his free time he could have used to nap or eat with decorating instead. Every room, even some of the SCP containment rooms, were decorated. And thoroughly. The main room even had a huge, real pine tree-- God knows how Cory got THAT in--with a golden star on top.

The faculty had tried to take down the nonsensical decorations, but they gave up pretty quickly. Cory had been so upset, seeing some of the Christmas lights being torn down. He had cried over it, full out bawling and sobbing like a child. So they kept the decorations up. After all, Cory had taken so much of his time and passion into decorating, and the decorations weren’t even that bad. Some people seemed to actually smile at them. The lights and tinsel brought a little glow into the dull eyes of the workers. Slowly, the tree was covered in ornaments and presents placed at the base. And that? That was something Cory hadn’t done.

“It makes me so happy to see all these gifts under the tree already!” Cory had said one day, inspecting the abundance of gifts under the tree. “I hope I get lots of presents! Or at least one of them! I really do hope I get most of them, though!”

“Say, what would you even want for Christmas, if you could get a gift, Cory?” Dr. Patience asked, clearly trying to act casual about it, and clearly failing at doing so.

“Lots and lots, really! I dunno! Food, blankets, cool toys! There’s so much cool stuff I wanna have!” Cory exclaimed, and almost seemed ready to burst into song like a musical character. “What if.. I could get a  _ real pony _ that can fly and shoot lasers and leave rainbows in it’s trail? I want  ** _that! _ ** Or food instead.”

“Food it is. Hey, maybe I can even find or make an infinite food source…” Dr. Patience replied with a smile, watching as Cory’s face lit up in happiness and excitement at the idea.

It hadn’t been long before Cory’s Halloween candy was gone-- Probably finished it by November 4th, really. So once that was done, he had to find more food. He mostly leeched off of the vending machine, per usual, but that changed once December hit. Everybody woke up to the sweet smell of sugar, and the not-so-sweet smell of fire. Hooper had rushed into the kitchen, only to find Cory standing there, fire in the oven, and counter spilled with cookies and icing and more. Disappointed at first, but once he tried one of the cookies from the counter, that had vanished.

“I’m usually horrible at baking,” Cory admitted, the tray of burnt cookies in his hand. “But I remember my mom’s old Christmas recipes. I’m not bad at them, but…” He glanced to the oven, where the fire had been put out, but it was still lightly smoking. “Not great at them, either.”

“These taste amazin’ Cory,” Hooper said, finishing the cookie off and looking up at Cory with a clearly shocked smile. “Bet ya won’t get in trouble as long as the General tastes one a’ these.”

Hooper was almost right. Cory did have to be supervised in the kitchen from now on, and it did take a whole plate of cookies, but Cory was allowed to keep making Christmas themed sweets and treats. It went to good use, too, with lots of the other people in the facility enjoying the sweets that Cory made. From cookies to cakes to pies, he made all sorts of things. Even apart from the normal treats-- He made stuff like nanaimo bars and lemon bars and caramel popcorn twists. Every sweet that he made was enjoyed by anyone that tried them.

Now, no baking is complete without one thing-- Belting out the lyrics to Christmas songs while doing so. So that’s exactly what Cory did. And they wished it would stay in the kitchen, but those wishes were left to dust. He sung everywhere, every second. Singing to himself in the halls, while baking, on missions, at 3am when everybody is trying to sleep… Yeah. I’m not hesitating when I say every single second. The singing was not only horrible and annoying most times, but dangerous on others.

“LAST CHRISTMAS! I GAVE YOU MY HEART!” Cory sang loudly, twirling through the snow, grin on his face. “BUT THE VERY NEXT DAY, YOU GAVE IT AWAYY!!!”

“CORY! Shut up!!” Trianna yelled, yanking on the hood of Cory’s jacket to pull him backwards and get him to shut up. “You  _ do _ know that if this SCP hears us, it’ll literally pull out your heart, right?!”

“That’s why I’m singing  _ this _ song! It’s fitting!!” Cory replied, nervously grinning at Trianna. Thankfully, he had shut up-- Or at least sung quieter-- And another mission had somehow gone successful. 

His singing habits never stopped. They seemed to get even worse, with him starting to go Christmas carolling… At the doors of each SCP containment rooms. Sure,  _ some _ SCPs were indifferent or even enjoyed it, but others.. Got angry. It even led to a containment breach once, and Cory  _ definitely  _ learnt his lesson after that. 

All of this continued, all through December, with him only getting more enthusiastic as the days went on. Cory already was the talk around the facility recently, but the talk about him definitely got more frequent through the holiday season.

“Was he always like this?” Trianna asked Hooper one day, the two watching from afar as Cory hung even more lights up upon the wall, singing along to a Christmas song as he did so.

“Dunno, never knew ‘em for that long.” Hooper responded with a shrug, pausing for a moment. “But…”

“Uni did.”

Back in college days, Cory was just the same. Starting from the 1st of December, he donned the Santa hat and ugly Christmas sweater that he had just bought at Walmart earlier that day. Uni walked in with a shivery sigh, shaking the snowflakes off his fur. He looked up to see Cory, singing softly along to a Christmas tune on the radio, and stringing up lights onto the wall.

“I saw the wreath on the door,” Uni said, causing Cory to jump and turn towards the voice. “It’s only the 1st!” Uni continued, sounding exasperated, but laughing softly and not being able to hold back a smile. “It’s too early!”

“Just early enough!” Cory argued back with a smile, watching as Uni grabbed some of the lights, beginning to hang them up on a wall with a cold shiver. “Hey Uni, there’s hot coco on the counter, I just made it for you a couple minutes ago!”

“Good timing then.” Uni replied, smiling up at Cory and dropping off the lights. He made his way to the kitchen, noticing the small mug of hot cocoa-- Topped with whipped cream and a sprinkle of chocolate crumbs. Just how Uni liked it. “Thanks!” 

“I made it when I knew your class would end,” Cory replied, and then there was a hiss of annoyance and the shuffling of Christmas lights. “You’re taking too many classes! Not enough time for Christmas movies.”

“I’m taking just enough classes. Enough that I'll get a good job, hopefully as a scientist.” Uni replied calmly, sipping the warm drink and walking into the living room. The sight was hilarious to see. Cory had become absolutely tangled in the Christmas lights. “Need a hand?”

“I’m fine!” Cory yelped, struggling and pulling at the lights, which only tightened their hold. Uni sighed, placing his mug down on the coffee table and walking over. In seconds, Uni had untangled Cory, who sighed and smiled with a “Thanks!”

Uni comforted himself onto the couch, pulling out his textbook and beginning to leisurely read and catch up with his classwork for the day while sipping the hot chocolate Cory had made him. In the background, Cory continued to decorate and sing along to every song that played on the radio. It continued on like that, for a while, until Cory spoke again.

“We should get a Christmas tree!” Cory suggested, turning to face Uni, who looked up at him with disappointment.

“We barely have enough money for food.. And I’m betting you already spent all of that on Christmas stuff, anyways.” Uni replied, before looking down at his textbook again. He felt the couch move, and looked to see Cory had plopped himself down beside Uni.

“No Christmas is perfect without a Christmas tree!” Cory complained, before grinning and turning towards Uni, pulling the textbook down from his face. “How ‘bout we get a small one? Just one of those super-tiny super-cheap fake ones?”

“Alright.. Fine.” Uni groaned. Almost instantly, Cory grabbed Uni’s hand, almost spilling his hot cocoa, and pulled Uni to the door.

“Let’s do it, then!” Cory exclaimed, throwing on a scarf and his boots before rushing out the door.

“WAIT! GRAB A COAT!” Uni yelled out, but Cory was already booking it down the hall. Uni sighed and rolled his eyes, placing down his book and mug. He put on his own coat, and walked out the door with Cory’s coat in his arms.

“You forgot your jacket, dummy.” Uni commented upon reaching Cory and tossing the jacket over to him, who quickly put it on. 

“It’s not  _ that _ cold.” Cory said through shivers. He started to twirl and dance in the snow as they both strolled to the store, and Cory stuck his tongue out to catch a snowflake. Uni looked over and smiled at him, and Cory did the same-- Then all the sudden Cory slipped on the ice and fell face-first onto the ground.

“Cory! Are you okay?!” Uni asked quickly, kneeling down to help Cory up. Cory sat up, before laughing, and laughing. This only led Uni to become more confused and worried for him.Worried that he might have hit his head and become even  _ crazier _ than before, that is.

“I’m fine,” Cory said through laughter, and Uni sighed in releif. Uni stood, grabbing Cory’s hand to help him to his feet as well. Their walk continued as before, if not more happily. Cory and Uni casually chatted throughout the whole walk, until they arrived at the nearby Walmart.

Upon entering the store they both shivered at the sudden warm air, and Cory instantly bolted to the trees section. They tried to pick out a tree, with Uni insisting on whichever ones that were moderately-sized and regular, while Cory tried to pick the colorful, huge, outstanding ones. As they reached the end of the aisle, though, both Cory and Uni caught sight of a  _ very _ tiny and  _ very _ broken tree. Cory instantly picked it up.

“This one!” Cory chirped, looking over to Uni, who seemed almost disgusted. Cory kept smiling, looking down at the tree. “Poor guy, So broken…”

“Yeah, it’s… So broken.” Uni complained, before catching sight of the pricetag. Five dollars. “And… So cheap. Let’s get it.”

“Thank you, Uni!!” Cory excitedly chirped, rushing forward and hugging Uni tight-- Which was uncomfortable with the tiny tree being squished between them. Uni pulled himself away and gently grabbed the tree.

“Of course,” Uni replied, beginning to walk to the storefront and to the paying area, placing the tree down and handing the cashier the money. He turned to Cory again and smiled, “No Christmas is perfect without a Christmas tree.” 

When they arrived back at their dorm, Cory grabbed the tree and rushed in, placing it down and pulling forward the box of ornaments. He got up, turning on the radio again, and letting it play soft Christmas music. Outside, snow slowly drifted down, illuminated by the moonlight on the cold, dark night.

Uni smiled, taking his own coat off and hanging it up on the rack. He wandered over, sitting down in front of the tree and beside Cory. He hung his favourite ornaments onto the tree, only being able to fit a couple due to how tiny and broken the tree was. It looked so pathetic, but that only added to the charm and humour of it all.

“It looks perfect!” Cory said excitedly, after placing almost all the ornaments he could fit on the tree. It looked messier than before, and Uni and Cory both began to laugh in the soft December night.

Cory fell asleep in the living room that night, bedded in decorations. He  _ was _ planning to finish decorating that night, but his exhaustion and need for a nap caught up to him instead. Despite this, Cory woke up in his own bed, tucked in neatly. It didn’t take Cory long to realize that Uni had brought him to his own bed, probably before he left for class. It also didn’t take Cory long to realize that Uni would be leaving class soon.

And then, he got an idea. An awful idea. Cory got a wonderful, awful idea. Why not go give Uni a little visit, right after class, with an armful of snowballs?

With a devilish grin, Cory hopped out of his bed, getting bundled up in winter clothing— A jacket, hat, scarf, gloves.. Everything. He slipped on his boots and rushed out the door, towards the building where Uni’s class was. Cory waited outside of the large building, grabbing handfuls of snow and preparing them into snowballs.

The door was pushed open, and Uni began to walk outside. Cory grinned, yeeting a snowball at maximum speed towards Uni. It hit him in the face and shattered into tiny pieces of snow, which splattered all over the textbooks Uni was holding, and the other students around him.

“CORY!” Uni yelled, before his face turned red in embarrassment and he glared, rushing over to Cory. “Why would you do that?!”

“Snowball fight!” Cory replied, a goofy smile on his face as he held another snowball. He watched as Uni almost began to lecture him, but then got confused as Uni calmed down and plopped his bag and textbooks on the ground.

“Its on.” Uni said with a smirk, stealing one of Cory’s snowballs and throwing it at him, hitting his camera face, and then rushing away with a laugh and starting to make his own reservoir of snowballs.

Cory was surprised for a moment— He hadn’t thought Uni would be so eager to join. But there he was, textbooks and backpack abandoned on the ground, a smile on his snowy face, and snowballs in his hands. 

So, Cory laughed and grinned, throwing a snowball at Uni and watching as it hit Uni’s arm. Uni fought back against it with two snowballs, one missing Cory, but the other hitting the top of his head.

Their snowball fight got bigger and much more extreme, with them laughing and yelling loudly through the snowy battle. Students walking past gave them weird looks, or tried to avoid them, but that didn’t matter to Cory or Uni. All that mattered now was eachother and the snow.

“I’m gonna win!” Cory yelled, shivering and laughing, tossing his last few snowballs at Uni, who barely had time to block them. Cory knelt down to make a few more snowballs, and almost fell at the force of Uni hitting him with one.

“Yeah right, camera-face!” Uni retorted with a laugh, tossing his snowball in the air before catching it and throwing it at Cory, hitting him again. But before Uni could revel in his victory, Cory had thrown multiple freshly-made snowballs at him.

It was almost endless, but soon the sky had begun to get dark, the warm sun melting down in the sky until it hid behind the snow. Light snowflakes fell from the sky, as if to replace all the snow that had been taken and used for playful ice warfare.

Cory hit Uni in the face with one last snowball, and both of them met in the middle, collapsing down onto the ground with soft, tired laughter. They let silence overtake them, and watched the snow fall. Uni shivered, hugging himself from the cold, and Cory blew on his freezing hands.

All the sudden Uni stood, putting his wet and snow-covered textbooks in his backpack, and putting his bag on once again. He adjusted his scarf and looked down to Cory, before outstretching his hand.

“Hey,” Uni said with a small smile, “We should go home. Make some hot chocolate for the both of us, light a fire, watch a movie… How about that?”

“Sounds perfect!” Cory chirped, grabbing Uni’s hand and standing to his feet again. The two walked back to their dorm room, quietly whispering and chatting in the silent winter night, walking along the icy pathways.

When they arrived, Uni unlocked the dorm room door, and they both entered. They took off their soaking wet winter clothing, hanging it up to dry. Uni walked up to the fireplace, tossing in a couple logs, and lighting the fire.

“Could you make the hot chocolate?” Uni asked, turning to Cory. “I’ll get everything else set up for us.”

“Yep!” Cory chirped, rushing to the kitchen and grabbing the kettle. “I know you’re no good at making it. I’ll be on sweet treat duty!”

“I hate that you’re right.” Uni said with a light chuckle. He tinkered with the fire until it was lit and just perfect, and grabbed a big blanket for him and Cory. Turning on the TV, Uni switched the channel until it was on some classic Christmas movie that they’d both enjoy.

There was a squeal from the kettle, and then it quieted, leaving the sound of pouring water and a spoon clinking against a mug. Shortly after, Cory returned, two mugs in hand. One was piled with whipped cream, marshmallows, sprinkles, chocolate, and more, while the other just had whipped cream and chocolate crumbs.

Cory sat down beside Uni, who wrapped half the blanket around Cory, so they shared it. Cory handed the mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate crumbs to Uni, who gently grabbed the cup and took a sip.

Sharing the blanket, Cory and Uni sat in front of the fire, letting it warm them. The snowflakes on Uni’s fur melted and the water dissipated, leaving him dry and warm. Cory smiled, taking a sip of his overly sugary drink.

“That was really fun,” Uni admitted, looking away and smiling softly. “I mean, my textbooks are ruined… But either way, that was fun.”

“I’m glad you had fun, I thought you’d hate me.” Cory replied with a laugh, leaning against Uni slightly and looking into the comforting fire. He took another sip of his hot chocolate.

“Oh, I do.” Uni replied, but looked at Cory with a short smile to tell him that he was joking. Cory giggled softly, resting a little.

Everything went quiet for a long time, with only the crackling of the fire and the quiet voices from the TV. They stayed close, huddled in the blanket and sipping their hot cocoa. Silently, they just enjoyed the warmth and company. Cory kept watching the movie, smiling at the memories of having watched it as a kid in the past.

“Christmas has always been my favourite holiday.” Cory commented, smiling wide and softly. This was a moment he just didn’t want to forget.

“I can tell.” Uni replied, quiet for a moment, before letting a wide smile break out on his own face as well. 

“I think it’s mine too, now.”

It was the 24th of December, Christmas Eve, at the SCP Foundation. The day before Christmas. Cory had been frantic, excited, bubbly. Rushing around to finish in time, to make everybody’s gift, to bake the rest of the sweets, to do the last few things he had forgotten to do before.

Cory had tried to start a snowball fight earlier, it was one of the last things left undone on his Christmas list. He had tried, with several of his friends, but each time regarded with cold glares. Colder than ice. The snowballs just made everyone annoyed and angry, yelling at him for destroying important documents or whatever. What did that matter? They could still spend a bit of time on a snowball fight.

Cory was cold. He had been out in the snow for a while. Not from snowball fights, though. He was alone. And it got boring, alone, in the cold dull winter. Standing out there, in the snow, alone. He didn’t care about the gentle snow that fell or how pretty it could have looked. It was just dull, blank, cold. Nothing fun to do when you’re out there, alone in the cold.

Cory trudged back inside, and to a small empty room. He started a fire, the wood crackling in the fireplace, and warming the room up. Cory then walked to a small kitchen area, heating up a kettle and pulling out all the hot chocolate ingredients, and two mugs.

He poured two spoonfuls of hot cocoa dust into each mug, and then picked up the kettle as it squealed and turned off the stove. Cory poured in just enough water to make it warm, and then just enough milk to make it thick and creamy. One mug was topped with as many toppings as it could handle, and the other had only a topping of whipped cream, and a sprinkle of chocolate crumbs.

Cory picked up the sweets-filled mug, and left the other one, alone, only to get cold and never drank, on the counter. Cory grabbed a remote, pressing it so a Christmas movie would start playing on the TV. It droned on in the background, like static inside of Cory’s mind.

Cory sat down in front of the fire, clutching to his hot chocolate tightly. It burnt his hands, and he barely even noticed the sensation. He barely had enough sense to place the mug down and wrap a blanket around himself with a shiver. He was still so, so cold. He shivered and trembled uncontrollably, the warmth from the fire, blanket, and drink doing nothing to help. 

Taking a sip of his hot chocolate, Cory sighed lightly. It tasted sickeningly sweet, almost making him feel nauseous as he stared out into the fire. He listened to the Christmas movie, with its jolly tunes and merry tone. The warmth of the fire and the cold of the snow.

Christmas would be tomorrow. Cory would wake up in the morning, the cookies and milk and carrots he left out for Santa and his Reindeer would be gone. He’d run down to the tree and see all the gifts he's waited months to get. Some from Santa, and some from all his friends, and some from Cory himself, that he had gifted to others.

It would finally be Christmas, Cory thought, staring out into the fire. He felt something bubbling in his eyes, dripping down his cheeks, and a salty and watery taste on his lips. He drowned it out by taking another sip of his hot chocolate, the sweet taste covering the salty taste he had before. 

The sweetness couldn’t last long as he looked into the fire, and kept crying. Uni was in a fire alike to this, alight. Did he think of Cory as he burnt? Did he think of the times they had spent before? Did he cry? Was he okay now, in a better place?

It hurt. It hurt so bad. Cory finished his hot chocolate, but it wasn’t sweet enough. The other mug, Uni’s mug, was full and left cold on the counter. Cory sobbed. 

Christmas was always his favourite holiday. The baking, the traditions, the tree. The fun games in the snow and the smiles of his friends. The songs to sing and movies to watch. The cold ice and snowflakes and the warm drinks and fires and times with friends. The presents he gave and the presents he got. He loved it, loved it all so much. But it almost felt ruined, burnt and charred to ashes.

Because, honestly, Cory’s favourite thing about Christmas wasn’t the presents.

It was Uni.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cory loves the presents he gets on Christmas day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the love on the fic!! i decided to write another chapter because of that!! and also because i came up with another idea :D
> 
> IMPORTANT EDIT!! I changed up the last two gifts that Cory gets, because I thought it was very out of character, and last year when I wrote this I wasn't even close to done with the series, and didn't know what to do for the gifts lol... But I've fixed it now. That said, THE COMMENTS BELOW MIGHT NOT MATCH WITH THE CHAPTER. Because i edited it. Thats all, and Merry Christmas!

** _Cory!_ **

“**_Cory, Cory!_ **”

“_Cory _, wake up!”

Cory’s eyes opened, and he stumbled to sit up. His empty mug was laying on the floor like he had been, and it was clear that he had fallen asleep in front of the fire. His hair was a mess and his face was still a bit wet from crying.

“Are you okay?” Trianna asked. Cory looked over to her to notice that she was the one that shook him awake, and he watched as she stood up again.

“Yeah.. Yeah, ‘m fine.” Cory mumbled a response, looking away from the couple of people before him. Hooper, Trianna, Lana, and Dr. Patience were all there-- Lana sitting beside him, Hooper and Trianna standing in front of him, and Dr. Patience worriedly looking on from the door.

“Here, lemme help ya up.” Hooper commented and grabbed Cory’s hand, pulling him off of the ground and up to his feet. “Did ya forget, it’s Christmas morning?”

“R-right! Yeah! Let’s go!!” Cory quickly responded, wiping tears from his face, almost forcing excitement. He grabbed Lana’s hand and ran out, looking back behind him to urge his friends to follow. All of them made their way to the main room, where the tall Christmas tree stood, presents littering the floor around the tree.

Cory instantly ran towards the gifts and almost seemed to jump into the pile. The small group of his friends exchanged a glance, one of worry that had faded into smiles. They watched as Cory dug through the gifts to get his own, and piling them around him, almost making a fort. There was much more gifts for him than they had anticipated.

“Hooper! Here!” Cory yelled out suddenly, and tossed over a gift. Hooper didn’t even have time to react, as the gift full out hit him in the face. Thank goodness it was soft.

“Cory! Don’t just go around throwing stuff!--” Dr. Patience began to reprimand him, and was cut off by a gift hitting him in the face as well. To avoid the inevitable attack of presents, Trianna and Lana both sat down with Cory, Lana snuggling up beside him with a smile. 

Soon enough, all five of them were sitting by the tree, tearing through the wrapping of the presents. Except for Dr. Patience, who prefered to gently undo the wrapping over the gifts and fold it to save it. Several times, someone would get so annoyed at how long it took, and rip it for him.

Gifts, presents, and smiles were exchanged between everybody, and soon enough several of the other employees at the foundation walked out of their own room to open their own gifts. It came to everybody’s attention that Cory had spent a _ lot _ of time on gifts for everybody there. More specifically, sweaters.

Cory had taken time to learn how to knit, just to make sweaters for each and every person there. Hooper got s sweater made with silver yarn, and designs that almost looked robotic. When asked, Cory just replied that it was because robots were cool, and he thought it fit Hooper.

Trianna got a pinkish-red and white striped sweater, and everybody joked that it made her look like a candycane. Lana got a soft blue sweater, decorated with green yarn to look like grass, and many tiny yellow flowers. Dr. Patience got a sweater with a pattern like lego bricks, and so did Bricky. 

Even the other employees that Cory didn’t know as well, and _ even _ some of the SCPs, had gotten a nice, soft, woolen sweater from Cory.

“Oh, I just thought they’d be nice!” Cory had replied, when asked _ why _ he would spend so much time making these sweaters for gifts. “I remember I used to get them as a gift… Someone I really cared about, he always got a sweater for me. Thought to pass on the tradition.”

Before anyone could ask any further, Cory had happily changed the topic and the tone, picking up another one of his gifts, and going to open it. It had bright wrapping paper, very messily written, and no indication to who it was from.

“Who’s it from?” Lana asked, peeking over at the gift, still unopened, the box resting in Cory’s hands. 

“Huh. I dunno! I mean, I gave gifts to everybody here, and half of them don’t have any idea who _ I _ am, so whatever!” Cory replied, smile in his tone. He tore open the wrapping paper, revealing a plain box inside. He opened the box with an excited grin… And his whole expression fell. He froze.

“What is it? What did’ya get?” Hooper asked, tilting his head. Worry filled all their faces. 

Cory didn’t respond. He opened the box to look inside a bit better. There was a note, and woolen fabric underneath it. He picked up the note, holding it close to read it. 

_ Dear Cory, _

_I've found this in Doctor Uni's office. I had taken it, along with a couple other things. I'm sure it was supposed to belong to you, so... Here. _

_Call it a peace offering, I suppose. Or just a gift. _

_F_ _rom who you call, ""Evil Uni""_

“Cory? Are you alright?” Lana asked, placing a hand on Cory’s shoulder. It was only then, that Cory realized that he was crying. Tears streaming down his metallic face, dropping onto the paper and the almost-finished sweater inside.

“Yeah, yeah.. Yeah…” Cory mumbled and nodded, placing the note down beside him. He threw on the sweater, blue and yellow, with a camera at the front, and the SCP foundation logo at the back. One of the sleeves was unfinished, but other than that, it was perfect. “Just emotional, that’s all..”

“Well the sweater looks good! And now you and Lana both match,” Trianna commented with a smile.

“Yep. And we _ all _ have sweaters now.” Hooper added.

“Yeah!” Cory replied with a smile, and wiped his camera eye, drying the tears.

“Who was the gift from?” Dr. Patience asked. He had seen the confusion, and then the tears, and thought it was important to ask.

“The sweater itself was made by.. A close friend, he never got to finish it I guess.” Cory replied quietly, softly, almost sadly. “But the gift itself was from that Evil Uni guy, whoever he is. Weird that he gave me a gift even though he's against the foundation.."

“Huh.. That is pretty weird. It's a nice gesture, though. Guess he's not as evil as he seems.” Dr. Patience replied with a small smile.

“Yeah.. Probably.” Cory replied, folding the note and placing it in his pocket, and then continuing to open up the last couple of gifts he had. Mostly sweets and food, which he eagerly accepted, and also eagerly ate upon opening.

Soon enough the floor was almost fully covered in opened gifts, boxes, and torn wrapping paper. Everybody had just finished up with all their gifts, and Cory was grabbing the last one from his pile. He was barely able to notice it, it was a small wrapped envelope, and blended in with the torn wrapping paper.

"Huh.. Wonder what this is." Cory mumbled, ripping open the gift, to find a fancy looking envelope inside, with a wax seal and everything. The note inside was neatly typed, and even looked to be typed with a typewriter.

_Dear Cory ████,_

_Hope your holidays are going well. Christmas is such a nice time, it's almost a shame that it only comes once a year... I've noticed how much you enjoy the holiday times, and I assume you always have._

_I hope your time in the SCP Foundation is doing well, too, and you are enjoying your job. You're quite lucky for having gotten out of Site ██ alive after that major containment breach... And surviving all your field duty so far. Congratulations. _

_I hope you enjoy your gift. Go to this address: _

_██ █████ St._

_████, Texas, USA_

_Sincerely, P. O._

"Huh.. Just some note from some dude I don't know. Telling me to go somewhere in Texas." Cory said, showing the note to everybody else in the group.

"OH! I know that place," Dr. Patience observed, worry creasing on his face as he grabbed the note. "That's... Just SCP-784, where it's located. I read up on that one. It's Euclid, but it's still not quite _safe.. _Its a neighbourhood where--"

"Aw, sweet! I get an SCP for Christmas! I wonder if it's like 999? I hope it's like 999!" Cory replied with a happy grin, grabbing back the note and filling his arms with his stash of gifts before rushing off to his own room. “I'm gonna go get ready to visit the weird gift SCP! Byeee guys!!”

The four watched him leave, with a sigh. They’d have to make sure he was okay, it was unusual for his happy exterior to waver, especially not that frequently. But for now, they’d leave him be, leave Cory to revel in his abundance of gifts and the festive air of Christmas day.

And that’s what he did. Cory plopped his gifts down onto his bed, grinning excitedly, and plugging in his Christmas lights. His grin faded into a warm smile as he went to his clothes drawer, pulling out a bunch of sweaters from over the years.

Sure, him and Uni had lost contact after college, for the most part. But Uni somehow still found the time to make Cory a sweater, every year, without fail. Maybe it was because he really did care, or maybe it was because of tradition. Either way, he still cherished them.

His favourite sweater was so familiar, almost matching to the one he wore now. It was itchy, and badly made, obviously rushed and done in the free time between classes and homework and sleep and work. But he loved it. 

He loved it, because it was blue and yellow, his two favourite colors, and Uni’s favourite colors too. He loved it, because he knew how much time Uni had spent, and how much work he had put into it. He loved it, because of how he grinned excitedly when he first got it. He loved it, because of the happy shine in Uni’s eyes when he had said how much he really did love it.

He loved it, because he loved Uni.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Idols Come and Go, Melting Like the Snow](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21948886) by [NightOfNetter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightOfNetter/pseuds/NightOfNetter)


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